There Is More Than One Way To Wield The Force

Acolyte Spoilers

Jedi are like Buddhist monks with light sabers. They are supposed to give up all attachment. They avoid love, anger, fear… all the powerful emotions.

But there is another way.

Sith Lord: Below the surface of consciousness are powerful emotions: anger, fear, desire.

Osha: That’s the path to the Dark Side.

Sith Lord: Semantics.

When I was an organizer, a long, long time ago (in a galaxy far away… what galaxy are we in again?) I taught that people are not rational. Organizing is not about facts. The boss lies in their campaign. Telling people the truth in flyers, on the phone, these days via social media or text I’m sure (glad I got out before that!) will not change a thing. People do not organize, or meet any great challenge, make any great change, because of facts.

People do things based on what’s below the conscious. Powerful emotions. Anger, fear, desire. To name just three.

I have always been very attuned to others’ emotions. This hasn’t always been good for me. When I felt like my only job in life was to please others being able to read what they wanted and become it turned me into some interesting things… but also turned me against myself at times.

I often wished I had a Jedi master to teach me the ways of the Force, but I didn’t. I tried seeking Zen masters, ended up with some good friends, but they don’t use the Force the way the Jedi do.

When confronted with the question: Jedi or Mandalorian, I answered, as did many of you: Mandalorian, obviously, even though I could never put things together (as in physical, mechanical objects) the way they do. I answered Mandalorian because the Mandalorians DO things. They fight for their home planet. They stick together. They value solidarity above all things. Some people theorize that they are Israeli.

Yet they don’t wield the Force easily. So as the Star Wars series build on each other, we seem to be faced with a decision: be someone who DOES things, believes in solidarity, has a tribe, or use the Force.

In the new series we are presented with a different choice.

If you aren’t watching it, you should be.